Method for oil and gas well production management using gradient metering

A computing system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a memory system comprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• receiving pressure data from a wellbore;
• determining a gradient measurement based on the received pressure data;
• performing an automated flow control device sequence in a plurality of zones of the wellbore when the gradient measurement exceeds or drops below a predetermined threshold to provide a plurality of stabilized gradient measurements;
• and
• normalizing the gradient measurement based on the stabilized gradient measurements to provide a fluid characteristic for each of the zones,
• wherein each of the plurality of stabilized gradient measurements corresponds to one of the plurality of zones.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• receiving pressure data from a wellbore;
• determining a gradient measurement based on the received pressure data;
• performing an automated flow control device sequence in a plurality of zones of the wellbore when the gradient measurement exceeds or drops below a predetermined threshold to provide a plurality of stabilized gradient measurements;
• and
• normalizing the gradient measurement based on the stabilized gradient measurements to provide a fluid characteristic for each of the zones,
• wherein each of the plurality of stabilized gradient measurements corresponds to one of the plurality of zones.